mjt328

I believe the first $20 million QB only came around 5-7 years ago. Amidst that time period, we've had a handful of New England wins... while Tom Brady was giving them a massive discount. So the recent "trend" has only really applied to Patrick Mahomes (win), Jared Goff (loss) and Carson Wentz (won from the bench). Not really a big sample. Looking at the current Super Bowl favorites, there is very high chance this trend is broken this year.

The NFL's most consistent team over the last 20 years (New England) was built to have balance, so they can attack the opponent's weaknesses. I've watched many pass-heavy teams over the years, who failed to get homefield advantage and then ran into problems during January playoff season. I've watched many run-heavy teams get steamrolled because their defense let up too many points, and they had to abandon their normal offensive attack. It's pretty awesome to see us go 2-0 in consecutive weeks... with one being very run heavy, and the second being almost all passing.

Going into this season, there were tons of people worrying if Josh Allen would ever have a 300 yard passing game.

After the Kansas City game, I really started worrying this defense was getting WAY too conservative. Especially in the secondary. Yes, they were blitzing quite a bit. But the defensive backs were playing so far back, it was getting way too easy for QBs to find open guys underneath. Today was the aggressive Bills defense that we saw last season. Which really surprised me. They were sending extra pressure from all over the place, but were also up challenging the receivers most of the day.

I really let AJ Klein have it, but he played great today.

Since Sean McDermott became coach, this team has seemed incapable of putting together a full team effort (at least against a good team) for an entire 4 quarters. We had good offensive games and good defensive games. But almost never at the same time. If the Bills started the game hot, they would inevitably slump in the second half. And vice-versa. Today was a true TEAM win. It started with Andre Roberts and the big return on the opening kickoff. It continued with an offense that was virtually unstoppable all day. And it concluded with a defense that forced 4 turnovers and 16 QB hits against one of the best offenses in football.

I'll readily admit that I was very frustrated with the Bills after last week, and was quickly losing confidence in the team's overall progress since 2019. Today was a HUGE step forward. I would argue that it was our best overall game since Sean McDermott became the coach. The offense was dominant the entire game and it showed on the scoreboard. If it wasn't for the sacks allowed, I would say this unit played absolutely flawless. The defense also played very good, despite letting up 34 points. Going against possibly the league's best offense in the NFL, they forced the Seahawks to earn it. Russell Wilson was under pressure all day, and they got the turnovers needed to maintain the lead.

I've been on these message boards (also the one over at BuffaloBills.com when it still existed) for a few decades now. Certain draft prospects were always very popular with Bills fans, and sometimes its fun to think about the "what ifs" if the GM had listened to the fans. Sometimes our front office made the correct call, and other times they did not. Lots of people were definitely pounding the table for Russell Wilson that year, and there was a total meltdown when we ended up taking TJ Graham instead. There was a growing frustration with Buddy Nix, who seemed unwilling to roll the dice on a QB and was always hoping one would fall in his lap. Others that I recall: - The fans wanted Haloti Ngata. The Bills took Donte Whitner. - The fans wanted Rob Gronkowski (Buffalo native). The Bills took John McCargo. - The fans wanted Brian Orakpo. The Bills took Aaron Maybin. - The fans wanted Josh Rosen. The Bills took John Allen. It seems like during the Brandon Beane years, the GM has often agreed with the fanbase on the top picks. For instance, Ed Oliver and Zack Moss. The year they passed on Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, people seemed to be split on whether we should have drafted one of those guys or traded down.

Our tackles have both played great this season, along with Mitch Morse in the middle. Overall, I think our pass blocking has been incredible. Pressure on the QB has not been a significant problem at any point this season. The weak spots have been our guards in the run game (up until the Patriots game). Getting back Jon Feliciano was huge. Unfortunately, the moment Feliciano comes back... Morse gets a concussion and becomes a question mark going forward. If we can get Morse back, I think the last question becomes whether we roll with Cody Ford or Ike Boettger at the Left Guard spot.

I usually prefer to give a QB at least 3-4 seasons before moving on. However, if they have Trevor Lawrence staring them in the face... they absolutely must pull the trigger.

Quite a few teams have been able to put together full games on both sides of the ball. Since we are arguing about Miami, I would say they accomplished this against the Jags, 49ers and Jets this year. Regardless, I guess we can just agree to disagree. A lot of Bills fans seem to think the very idea Miami could eventually take the AFC East is ridiculous. They seem to think Sunday's win pretty much buried the Pats and wrapped up the division. I think that discounting the Dolphins (even with a rookie QB) could end up being a huge mistake. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Trent Murphy may be overpaid. But he occasionally makes plays. AJ Klein has been like having 10 guys on defense.

The Bills have not played "great" at any point this season. Certainly not for a full 4 quarters on both sides of the ball. Only one of their wins (Week 1 against the Jets) was by more than a single score. Their offense played great the first 3-4 games, and has been average (at best) ever since. The passing game is trending in the wrong direction, by virtually every metric. That includes Josh Allen and the wide receivers. Their defense has been dreadful, outside of maybe a few quarters. The first half of the first Jets game. The 4th quarter of the Raiders game. The second half of the second Jets game. The first half of the Patriots game. Out of the 32 quarters they have played, the defense has been terrible in about 25 of them. I would like to believe they can improve. But we are now at the midpoint of the season. Time is running out. The Bills look like a team with an average offense and a bad defense, which has been fortunate enough to get some lucky calls (Rams) and well-timed turnovers (Raiders, Patriots). They have also played the Jets twice already. All signs are pointing towards a VERY ugly second half for this team.

I agree that punt returns/defensive touchdowns are not a sustainable way to win games. But neither is counting on a practice squad call-up to punch the ball out, just before the opponent scores the winning touchdown. The Dolphins are playing WAY BETTER than the Bills right now. They have been playing better for well over a month now. And honestly, it's not even close. Anyone who denies that... either hasn't been paying attention around the rest of the NFL, is only looking at the standings, or is just willingly blind to the truth. They held the Rams to 17 points (most of which came after they got out to a huge lead). They destroyed the the 49ers 43-17. They hung with the Seahawks until late in the 4th Quarter. They blew-out the Jets -- which is the standard for everyone in the league except us. The AFC East is not wrapped up, by any means.

Definitely Beane's worst signing since becoming our GM. At least most of his whiffs could be cut easily after a season. Klein will be taking up a worthless roster spot for the next two years, unless we are willing to take the dead cap hit.

I don't understand why people keep pointing to Tua's stats. The Dolphins destroyed a legitimate playoff team (the Rams) on Sunday, using the same formula that we used last season. And if not for resting our starters in Week 17, we most likely would have won 11 games using that formula. As I pointed out in another thread, the Dolphins next five games are against the Cardinals, Chargers, Broncos, Jets and Bengals. They could easily cruise through that stretch with a 3-2 record, putting them at 7-5 going into the final quarter of the season. The way they are playing right now, it wouldn't be a far stretch for them to be 8-4 at that point. During that same stretch, the Bills get the Seahawks, Cardinals, a bye, the Chargers and 49ers. The way this team has been playing over the last month, I would be shocked if we are better than 2-2 over this next set of games. I don't think the Bills can outscore the Seahawks and the 49ers are an absolutely terrible matchup for our defense. We should beat the Chargers. The Cardinals are a toss-up. My guess is that we are sitting at 8-4 or 7-5, which is exactly where I anticipate the Dolphins being. Every week, I become more skeptical that McDermott/Frazier can get this defense on track. At this point, we can no longer look at the 2019 defense and say the 2020 version is just having a bad stretch. For whatever reason, this year's unit is just plain bad. I would venture to say the 2020 Bills defense is among the worst in the NFL. At the same time, the offense has clearly come back to Earth. They aren't a unit capable of regularly scoring 30+ points. Put those things together, and I think we are looking at a pretty rough second-half of the season. I still think we can scrape together 9-10 wins. But don't be surprised if the Dolphins are right there too.

Many of them have also been HUGE plays. - Andre Roberts tipping the ball in the air, and starting the blowout against the Titans - John Brown dropping a key first down against the Chiefs - Gabriel Davis dropping the touchdown pass Sunday Just another part of this team underperforming horribly.

The Bills haven't beaten a QB of Russell Wilson's caliber since Sean McDermott became our coach. This once proud defense has become totally gutless. My guess is they will try to repeat the Kansas City strategy, rather than play confident and aggressive. They will guard against the big plays and deep throws, but fail to challenge the underneath passing game. And then get gashed in the running game as usual. Instead of dictating the game, McDermott/Frazier will cross their fingers and hope Seattle either gets impatient or turns the ball over. I would feel more confident in this game, if our offense had actually showed some life over the last 4 weeks. This clearly isn't a team that can regularly score 30+ points and win in shootouts.

The main thing a GM should be judged on is how he drafts. I'm a believer that it takes about 3 years to properly judge a pick, and we should get at least 3 starting quality players in a normal draft class. That number would need to be higher in a year with extra Day 1-2 picks. It's hard for many Bills fans to criticize Brandon Beane, because he's the man behind our most successful run in over 20 years. But with the moment of truth coming for the 2018 class, the results are sadly starting to look less than thrilling. Yes, we were able to land a franchise QB in Josh Allen thanks to an extra pick from the previous year's draft, and trading away players like Cordy Glenn and Tyrod Taylor. But our other prize pick from that class, Tremaine Edmunds, is quickly becoming a massive liability. You can always recognize a failed pick when they don't get the 5th Year Option, and at this point I would be shocked if we activate his. Harrison Phillips looked promising as a rookie, but hasn't contributed anything positive this year. Taron Johnson and Levi Wallace have been awful this year. Nobody else has even cracked the starting lineup. Beane gets one more offseason before he will be forced to give Josh Allen $30 million+ per year (this year he only counts $5.8 million towards the cap for comparison). Once that happens, our ability to re-sign talent and address holes in Free Agency will be significantly decreased. The only way the Bills keep winning is by getting significant contributions from guys on rookie contracts. There will be a time when we can't just trade/sign someone like Darryl Williams to start when a high pick like Cody Ford busts. You actually have to get production out of Ford.

We played the same kind of football last year, and (in my opinion) looked much less impressive doing it. Looking at their schedule, I can easily see them finishing with 10+ wins by season's end. The Bills are obviously in the driver's seat right now, seeing as how they sit 2.5 games up at this point. But things can change fast. We have the tougher schedule going forward, and I think the Dolphins ultimately look like a better team. The Bills play the Seahawks and Cardinals next. The way we've played lately, I can't see us winning either. Very possible we go into the bye at 6-4. The Dolphins play the Cardinals, Chargers and Broncos next. If they can go 2-1 over that stretch, they are sitting at.... 6-4. Don't discount them.

Maybe the problem is... the Bills NEVER play a beautiful game. Win or lose. Either the Bills play a pathetic team that we should beat by double-digits (Jets, Pats), and somehow turn it into a 4th quarter, edge of your seat, last-second pulled out of our backsides victory... OR we get our teeth smashed-in by one of the legitimate Super Bowl contenders (Titans, Chiefs). Can you name even one game in the past 3 years, where the Bills have been impressive across the board? Every game we look absolutely terrible in some area. I've been on the same side of the argument as you, saying "a win is a win" and fans shouldn't be complaining. But the bar has been raised on my expectations. I'm not going to just be happy with wins against bad teams. I said before the season, the Bills absolutely MUST win a playoff game this year, or this season will ultimately be a failure in my eyes. And right now, I would consider our chances 50-50 against even the lowest Wild Card contenders in the AFC like the Browns, Colts or Raiders.

Yet they don't make adjustments in the areas that are not working. Teams are killing us with the quick underneath passes. Every. Single. Week. Yet we continue to play WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY off the ball. The top receiver for our opponent was Jakobi Meyers. But our corners were regularly playing 8-10 yards off the receivers, and then started backtracking farther before the snap. Just because our scheme is zone, doesn't mean you just let the WRs catch everything without contest. I've been harping on many of the reasons our defense is struggling. The injuries. The lack of a true 1-Tech DT. But I'm also starting to realize the book is totally out on our secondary. We have one good CB, and the other guys just CANNOT cover. In fact, they don't even try. Whether it's Levi Wallace, Taron Johnson, Josh Norman, etc., their plan seems to be... let up a 7 yard pass, then hope I can tackle him before the marker. If the only way our Defense can make a stop is when the other team makes a mistake (penalty, sack, turnover), then SOMETHING needs to change.

As I stated in a post earlier this week, the Buffalo Bills are incapable of putting together 4 quarters of good football. That's one of the main reasons every matchup against the league's bottom-feeders is a nail biter, and we get our face kicked in against the league's better teams. This defense was getting dominated by the Patriots backups, and got fortunate Cam Newton was sloppy holding the ball.

That was the most embarrassing "win" that I've ever witnessed from this team. I'm not pleased at all. Between the multiple key penalties that wiped out big gains by the Patriots offense, the arrogant decision by Bill Belichick to do an onside kick, and ridiculously fortunate fumble recovery in the final seconds... we needed every LUCKY bounce of the football to squeak out a win against a bunch of practice squad-caliber players. At this point, I'm already looking towards next year. The offense is our only hope to carry this team, and it's been mediocre for the last month. This defense is hot trash. And this coaching staff clearly has zero answers for fixing it. Our D-Line gets blown backwards on virtually every play, while our linebackers don't understand basic tackling fundamentals and our secondary plays 18 yards off the receivers. It was interesting to see how much our cornerbacks respect the skills of Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd, that we gave them huge cushions all game. I'm starting to believe the hype that Miami can mount a comeback and take the AFC East. And even if we still manage to win the division, this overrated squad is going to get knocked out in the first round.

Cam Newton for fumbling. What a pathetic performance by our defense.